In the spirit of competition, Beer Friends would like to invite everyone to our NFL season hashtag battles! Using hashtagbattle.com we will pit two breweries against each other when their NFL counterparts are facing off on the gridiron. Are you ready for some football? And drinking? And #hashtag battle?!?!?!
What’s a hashtag battle? When you’re drinking a beer of a brewery competing in the battle (#stone vs #newbelgium), throw a #hashtag of the brewery and tweet it (or setup your foursquare or untappd to push to tweet and include the #hashtag) and we’ll use hashtagbattle.com to declare a winner after the Monday Night football game on ESPN. And because football needs beer, we’re starting on Saturday morning to include the brews consumed during College Football Saturdays. Support your team, support your beer, drink local and hashtag battle!
Hashtag Battle Week Five Matchup: Denver vs San Diego (#newbelgium vs #stone)
The Breckenridge Brewery is a favorite of Colorado folks with a few locations all over the state. While the Original Brewery and Pub is located on South Main Street in Breckenridge, they have a location on Blake St. Denver across from Coors Field, a BBQ joint and brewpub in Denver, and a Ale House in Grand Junction. Known for delicious beers, Breckenridge has a firm foothold in the brewery rich Colorado beer scene and doesn’t look to be letting up any time soon. On the recent Beer Friends Colorado Brewery tour we visited the Blake Street location to try a few beers and chat up a few bartenders.
A few details on the beers:
Avalanche Ale is one of their most popular beers and for good reason, this amber ale gives the famous Fat Tire a run for it’s money in the amber scene across Colorado. While Fat Tire is more readily available, strike up a conversation about Avalanche Ale with a bartender and prepare yourself for a detailed argument.
Upon the rebuilding project of Lower Downtown (LoDo) Denver it gave birth to plenty of new bars and restaurants in the area. Many are still strong today and a favorite of locals before and after a Rockies game, one of the original bars/brewpubs was Wynkoop Brew Pub, founded in 1988. Refurbishing a existing building from the 1888′s, Wynkoop focuses on small batch beers to serve it’s patrons and is always a popular gathering place during the Great American Beer Fest (GABF). Wynkoop has a number of fantastic beers and – in all good breweries – a sense of social conscience. The Silverback Pale Ale (now in cans!) donates fifty (5-0!) percent of it’s proceeds to the Denver based Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund.
With Great Divide Brewery winning awards year after year, Beer Friends had to take a second trip back – and third and forth – to sample some beers and feature them as the Six Pack of the Week. This week we looked at Yeti Imperial Stout, a dark delicious beer that won multiple awards, most recently a 2009 Silver Medal at the Great American Beer Festival, in Denver, Colorado. The Beer Friends got their hands on the regular Yeti Imperial Stout, but there are a few varieties including – Oak Aged, Chocolate Oak Aged, and Espresso Oak Aged, with plenty more opinions out there. Yeti! I believe! Stout! Beer!
A wonderful return to Colorado! Today’s brew is Hades Belgian-style ale from Great Divide Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado. The Beer Friends certainly enjoyed our time there and our NYC review of Hercules Double IPA.
Sadly the Beer Friends missed this years Great American Beer Festival (GABF), stupid 9 to 5 jobs… but we were there in spirit – the spirit of Craft Beers! The Festival is a once in a lifetime experience of beers, foods, and friends. Below is the complete list of winners and links. Beer!
2010 Great American Beer Festival Awards
Category – Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
A highlight of the Beer Friends Colorado Brewery Trip was Great Divide Brewery in Denver, Colorado. Great Divide was a great time and well worth the drive and parking in downtown Denver. PLUS it’s within walking distance of a few other breweries and hosts a Denver breweries walking tour (Click here for info).
The Tap Room itself has a very friendly atmosphere. The bartenders are more than willing to share Great Divide’s fantastic brews with you. You get four free samples when you come in that you will quickly want to follow up with a pint or two of your favorites. Everyone in the place were regulars, even if they hadn’t ever been there before and they all seemed to know each other. One Beer Friend even randomly ran into a guy from his father’s hometown who, through not so many degrees of separation, knew all the same people he did. Great Divide is a great brewery, the brews great beer and seems to attract a great clientele. (more…)
Old Chicago will always have a special place in this Beer Friends’ heart. My home bar – it’s a chain restaurant – is located on the North End of Colorado Springs off the Woodmen Exit. Old Chicago is a typical bar/restaurant, serving deep dish pizza, calzones, salad bars and pasta. What sets Old Chicago apart is the beer list.
Old Chicago is my Holy Grail of drinking. This is where I learned about beer, about good beer, and the difference between bottles and draft — basically my beer-education.
dingerc
Brad
Corporate Kerouac
Phil
